We had our first baby, Coleman, almost 6 years ago. Just 16 months later he was joined by a new little sister, Emmie. (I knew you could get pregnant while nursing, just didn’t think it would happen since it had taken us a while to get pregnant with our first – but it’s all about God’s sovereignty anyway - but that is another post for another day). Those were some busy and tiring days. Two in diapers and a 16-month old doesn’t make much of a ‘helper’.
Two years later, Calvin joined us. Coleman himself had just turned 3. I have heard Mom’s of many say that it’s the hardest when you have 3 that are 3 and under. Those too were some tiring days. At first – all 3 were still in diapers, but it wasn’t long until that changed. Daddy took off work and by George, we were going to potty train somebody, anybody. Coleman finally got the hang of it after a lot of hard work. Then little Emmie pretty much trained herself (we were due an easy training experience at this point)!
Most of you know that we are now expecting our fourth, probably at the end of April. (Calvin will be 3 in July – notice a pattern? They’re getting further apart!) I realized that my 2 oldest are big enough to be ‘real’ helpers this time. We have started on working on some things, like bringing Mommy diapers and wipes as well as throwing out dirty diapers. I am teaching them to make waffles in the toaster because well, you can have waffles for breakfast, lunch, and supper right?
But I am far more excited about the biggest milestone that we reached this past week. Coleman and Emmie are both buckling themselves in the car! How much easier to go somewhere and only have to buckle in one child (at least for now)? Not to mention that it was hard to help the one in the back of the van because of my expanding belly. I truly feel like we have arrived … not sure where we’ve arrived but we have arrived somewhere. I do want to treasure this time while they are little but these times of growth and independence are nice too!
Want to go for a ride?
7 comments:
That is a huge milestone with multiple little ones in car seats!! Parker can buckle and Emery is still working on it. She gets it most of the times, but still needs help now and again. Such a blessing. She can't get out, but hey, not a big deal. Bradley is about to be turned around. That is always fun!
Abbey mastered buckling herself in not too long ago. WooHoo! It's great to just yell, "Get in the van!" And they do it without my help. We even have those automatic door thingies, so I don't do a thang anymore! I'll be super happy when Abbey masters adequate orifice wiping skills. Now that's what I call achievement!
I'm laughing because for a time I served waffles with peanut butter for dinner quite a lot. More than I realized however, when one day I served them for breakfast, and my kids looked at me in wonder and asked why we were having dinner food for breakfast!
I loved this post! I always admire moms who have babies so close together! I think it is great! We have 4 but spread out a bit! : )
It is great to train your little ones to be more independent and responsible...they can be a great help and blessing instead of waiting on someone to do things for them. That is my goal!!! Esp before Lydia gets here.
Oooh yes, we recently celebrated because all our kids are in booster seats now, and both boys can buckle themselves. It's *SO* much easier to go anywhere now!
Your first three are almost the same spacing as mine. My boys are 16 months apart and my middle son and daughter are 21 months apart. Oh boy, those days were tiring. It's getting so much easier now.
Buckle? We were just glad to get them to the point where they could use a seat belt and not the carseat straps.
Four's not as bad as three. It takes an extra gear to get used to not having enough hands...but that only lasts a year or so. *chuckle
Josh
"...the word of God is not bound."
--2 Timothy 2:9
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